Why Not
by Athena's Marauder
Summary: Lorelai Gilmore wants the best life for her daughter, away from the wealthy family with skewed priorities that she grew up with. Though fiercely independent, she accepts unorthodox help in desperate times from the last person she would expect. ((Pre Series, Canon Divergent))
1. Chapter 1

Sunday afternoons were her favourite. Mia always let her off early so that she and Rory could spend them in town, perusing the bookstore or hanging out at the park and having a picnic consisting of cheap candy and Little Debbie cakes. Six days of the week, Lorelai worked until she was bone tired and collapsed on her little twin bed in the potting shed at the back of the Independence. Mia had told her many times before that she would be more than happy to let Lorelai have another day off, but Lorelai wasn't about to let anyone think she was a charity case. She worked for everything she got and Mia had given her so much when Lorelai showed up at the Independence a year prior that she felt the only way to repay her was to be her most dedicated employee.

"Momma, paper," Rory said, pointing the magazine stand across the street. The toddler pulled on her mother's free hand to get her to move. Lorelai rolled her eyes with a small smirk on her face. Most two year olds wanted pop up books, but no, Rory wanted her mother to read the Stars Hollow Gazette to her every night.

"We'll stop by after we go to Doose's, baby, I promise," Lorelai said, pulling her daughter away from the street and heading up the crosswalk towards the town's market.

"Hey, doll," Babette greeted the girls as the stepped up onto the sidewalk. The Town Gossips had their faces pressed against the glass of William's Hardware. Lorelai noticed that for the first time since she had gotten to Stars Hollow, the "Out of Business" sign on the door was taken down. Lorelai could set her watch by the lack of change in this small town; she was almost jostled by the new development.

"What's going on here?" Lorelai asked, peeking in beside them. She hadn't really taken the time to look inside of it before, as she wasn't all that keen on wrenches and hammers nor would an abandoned store help her with either of those in any case. She saw that despite the sign on top of the building still saying "William's Hardware", the inside had a disconnected stove and a bunch of mismatched tables sitting in the middle of the room.

"The prodigal son returned," Miss Patty said. "He came back last week, started moving things all around in there. Taylor's throwing an absolute fit."

"When isn't he throwing a fit?" Babette said. "If that stick were any farther up that man's tuchus we could roast him over a fire."

"Wait, the son?" Lorelai asked.

"Oh, you haven't heard of him?" Miss Patty asked. "If I were twenty years younger."

"No salavating in front of the kid, Miss Patty," Lorelai said. "I think I have heard of him. Luke, right?"

"Yeah, that's the one," Babette said. "He took off right after his dad's funeral and no one's seen him since. Shame, too. He's such a nice boy. Nice butt, too."

"Ewh," Rory said, making a face.

"Ewh is right, Rory," Lorelai said, patting her daughter's head. "Where has he been?"

"Nobody knows, he's barely said anything to anyone. Except to tell Taylor to stick it where the sun don't shine," Miss Patty explained.

"I heard he followed that girlfriend of his to Egypt," Babette said.

"Rachel? Not likely," Miss Patty said. "She broke up with him right after they graduated. I heard he spent the year traveling, Jack Kerouac style."

"So what's he doing back?"

"We thought he was going to open the store back up, but it doesn't look like it," Babette said.

"It never had a kitchen in it before," Miss Patty said. "That's all new. Or at least new to the building."

The three women turned abruptly at the sound of screeching tires. Lorelai's heart stopped completely when she realized Rory was no longer by her side. She stood rooted to the spot, scanning the cars stopped in the middle of the crosswalk. Her breathing returned when she spotted her daughter being carried back to her. The young man holding her was tall, with piercing eyes and stubble that looked more accidental than stylish. He grabbed up the baseball cap that had fallen off in the rescue and placed it back onto his head backwards. Rory clung to the stranger's flannel shirt, tears streaming down her face.

"She yours?" The man said, stepping up onto the sidewalk. Without thinking, Lorelai pulled him into a crushing hug, thanking him profusely. "Take that as a yes."

Lorelai pulled back, taking Rory with her. "I looked away for a second." Miss Patty and Babette fussed over the little girl as well.

"That's all it takes," He said.

"I wanted paper," Rory said, using her chubby fists to wipe tears away. Lorelai shushed her, kissing her forehead. Lorelai shifted Rory to her hip, sticking her hand out to the man.

"I'm Lorelai, this is Rory," She introduced. The man shook her hand with his large, calloused one but didn't respond with his name.

"This is Luke Danes," Miss Patty said for him. "We were just telling Lorelai about you."

"That's never a good thing," Luke said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Nothing bad, dear," She said with a smile. "Just wondering what on earth is going on in that store of yours."

"Not a store anymore," Luke said. "Thought it was time for a change."

"It's not?" Babette asked. "Whatcha gonna do with it then?"

"It's gonna be a diner," Luke said. "Should be open by the end of the month."

"Really?" Babette said. "We do need some good eats around here."

"How's your coffee?" Lorelai asked. "I love Fran to death but Weston's coffee is subpar at best."

"My coffee's decent," Luke said.

"Then you'll be seeing quite a bit of me."

* * *

Despite the "Closed" sign on the door, Lorelai let herself into the not quite finished diner. She had passed the building a few times, but this time, everything looked mostly in place.

"Tomorrow's opening day," the surly owner said, his back turned as he adjusted the coffee machines on his back counter. "Come back then."

"I just thought I'd stop in and see how things were going," Lorelai said, tucking the newspaper that had brought her to this side of town in the first place up under her arm and sat down at a bar stool.

"They're going," Luke said, glancing up at her for a moment but going back to scribbling notes down. "What'd you need?"

"I don't need anything, jeez, paranoid," Lorelai said. "You saved my daughter, can't I just say hi?"

"You said hi," Luke said. "So bye, Rory's mom."

"You remember her name but not mine?" Lorelai asked.

"She's a cute kid," Luke shrugged.

"You so don't seem like the kind of guy who says 'cute'," Lorelai said. Luke glared up at her. "We have the same name, it's not that hard to remember."

"You said your name was Lorelai," Luke said, going back to his coffee machines. He poured some grounds into the top of one, starting his first batch.

"So you did remember," Lorelai said with a smug smile.

"Never said I didn't."

"Rory is short for Lorelai," She explained.

"You named her after yourself?" He asked, looking back at her over his shoulder.

"Ever heard of King Henry the eighth?" Lorelai defended.

"Fair enough," Luke nodded.

"I'm named after my grandmother. Why shouldn't my kid be named after me? I did all the work," Lorelai said.

"I said fair enough," Luke said. "You don't have to give me the whole life story."

"So opening tomorrow, huh?"

"Anyone ever tell you talk way too much?" Luke asked.

"Constantly," Lorelai said, unfolding the paper onto the counter.

"What part of closed don't you understand?" Luke asked, leaning firmly with his palms on the counter.

"The part between C and D," Lorelai said without looking up from the newspaper. "Rory likes me to read this to her at night. I thought I'd grab it for her before I pick her up from daycare so we don't have another incident. When's your birthday?"

"I'm not telling you my birthday," Luke said, pushing away from the counter.

"Come on, Luke," Lorelai said. "Tell me."

"No."

"Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell-,"

"Christ," Luke said, throwing his hands up. "November 4th, happy?"

"Scorpio, that makes sooo much sense, you're a total Scorpio," Lorelai said, unfazed by his outburst.

"Of course you believe in that crap," Luke said, rolling his eyes.

"Gimme," Lorelai said, leaning over to grab the pen from Luke's shirt pocket.

"You're like a child."

"Technically I am one," Lorelai said, scribbling something down on the paper.

"A child?"

"Yeah, until two weeks from now," Lorelai said. "Then I'll be eighteen. But it's not like you're magically an adult just because you turn eighteen, you're still a teenager, just a teenager who can vote and smoke."

"It never stops," Luke said, almost to himself.

Lorelai tore the small section from the paper that she had written on, handing it to Luke proudly. He took it begrudgingly, looking down at the loopy, girly handwriting over the Scorpio Horoscope.

"'You will meet an annoying woman. Give her coffee and she'll go away'," Luke read out loud, suppressing a small smirk. He set the horoscope back on the counter and grabbed a to go cup from the stack under the coffee machine. He poured her a cup and slid it over to her. "Let's see if it's bullshit or not."

Lorelai grinned widely, taking a sip from the cup. "Way better than Weston's. How much do I owe you?"

"You're my first customer," Luke said, leaning back against the back counter with his arms crossed. "It's on the house."

"You're officially my favourite person, Lucas Danes," Lorelai said, blowing an over exaggerated kiss at him as she got up to leave. Despite himself, Luke felt his stomach tighten. He pushed that feeling down, watching the young mother walk out of his diner and down the sidewalk. When he was sure she was long gone, he snatched the horoscope back up and slid it into his back pocket. He told himself he would throw it away later, but it never did make it to the trash can.


	2. Chapter 2

The Independence Inn was far from the monolithic home she grew up in and that was just how Lorelai liked it. She even liked being a maid, despite never having had cleaned a thing in her life prior to getting the job. She especially liked that when Rory wasn't in daycare, she could ride along in Lorelai's cart with her to each room, "helping" her mother clean with the little toy broom and dustpan one of the gardeners had gotten her for Christmas.

Lorelai absentmindedly shoved the dirty sheets into the laundry bag, her attention focused on the rain that raged against the windows of the room. She loved the snow more than anything, but she could appreciate the soft rasp of the rain, especially since it marked the coming of spring and the flowers that she and Rory loved to pick to decorate the little shed that they called home. Lorelai stooped down, swinging Rory up into her arms, sparking giggles from the toddler. She placed her back on the top of the cart, pushing it out of the now clean room.

"Quitting time, sweets," Lorelai said.

"No, Momma," Rory pouted.

"You have such a good work ethic," Lorelai said, grabbing Rory's nose between her fingers, making the girl laugh again. "We gotta get ready for dinner, Mia's making all our favourites."

"Birthday cake!" Rory clapped.

"Birthday cake!" Lorelai repeated with a laugh.

She pulled the cart through the back hallway, pushing it into the laundry room. She plucked Rory off the cart and sat her on the ground, holding her hand as they walked into the front lobby. Lorelai dug out the big pink umbrella from behind the front desk. Even early in the morning when she had pulled a sleeping Rory out of bed to make her rounds, it hadn't been cold enough for jackets. She stepped out of the Inn, opening the umbrella to cover them completely. As they made their way to the little potting shed, Lorelai let Rory take as many detours as she liked to stomp her tiny feet in all the mud puddles. It was a symbolic middle finger to her own mother who was known for nearly fainting at the slightest speck of dust on her clothing.

They ducked into the shed, Lorelai shaking off the umbrella before shutting the door behind her. Lorelai felt rain hit her head, turning her attention towards the ceiling. "Shit," She said under her breath as she saw the droplets forming and dripping down onto the floor.

"Shit," Rory repeated.

"No, no," Lorelai said. "Mommy didn't say that, she said...ship."

"Ship," Rory said.

"Great, now that's covered," Lorelai said rolling her eyes as she looked for something to catch the water.

A knock on the door startled her hand to her chest. No one ever came out to their potting shed. She pulled it open, finding the diner owner on the other side.

"Luke!" Rory shouted. Lorelai could swear she saw a smile replace his apathetic scowl for the briefest moment.

"You do deliveries?" Lorelai asked.

"Dinner's ready," Luke said shortly.

"And Mia had you come all the way from the diner to tell us?"

"I made it," He said.

"You made my birthday dinner?" Lorelai asked, a smirk touching her lips.

"Fancy chefs don't do burgers," Luke said.

"Burgers are my favourite," Lorelai conceded. "But tell Mia we're going to be a little late, I have to figure out something to plug up my ceiling."

Luke poked his head in further, looking up at the issue. "Your ceiling is leaking."

"Is that what it's doing? Hadn't noticed."

"I can fix it," Luke said.

"Make coffee, flip burgers, fix roofs, is there anything you can't do?" Lorelai said. Luke ignored her, instead focusing on the rain water dripping inside. "Speak in full sentences, I suppose."

Luke shot her a glare. "I can put up a tarp for tonight, but I'll come back tomorrow morning and get something more permanent on there."

"You're going to fix my ceiling?"

"You guys'll get sick if you're sleeping in a wet shed," Luke said. "I'm surprised you didn't catch something staying in here all winter."

Lorelai held her hand to her imaginary pearls, "Luke Danes, are you worried about us?" She mock gasped.

"You want your roof fixed or not?" Luke asked, hands on his hips.

"It's really nice of you to offer, but I can't pay you or anything. I'll just deal with the tarp for now."

"You're not gonna live under a tarp," Luke said firmly. "You don't have to pay me to fix it. I'll just do it."

"You'll come all the way out here, in the rain, in your free time to fix my roof, for nothing?"

"Yeah," Luke answered as if it were obvious.

"I don't take handouts," Lorelai said. This time, she was sure she caught a smirk.

"Consider it a birthday present."


	3. Chapter 3

Lorelai sat in her usual spot at the counter, sipping on her coffee and bugging Luke. They had built a routine in the months since the diner opened. She came in every time she was around to pick up Rory, drank her coffee, and bantered with the cranky owner. It was an unusually busy day, but Luke still made time between delivering plates to tables and barking at his chef to berate Lorelai for drinking too much caffeine.

"You bounce off the walls already, you don't need any more," Luke said as he poured her a second cup.

"How do you think I got this chipper demeanor?" Lorelai said. "It certainly wasn't genetic, no sir, it was cultivated carefully."

"One of these days your heart is going to stop altogether and I'm gonna be there to tell you I told you so," Luke said, shoving his order pad in his waistband and crossing his arms.

"Watch it, Burger Boy," Lorelai said, pointing her finger at him. "And if you've got time to criticize my coffee intake, you have time to get me a donut."

Luke handed her the pastry, leaning up against the back counter despite the rush of the diner. He watched her tear into it like she hadn't eaten in days which he knew wasn't true seeing as she had devoured a plate of fries not ten minutes before. Luke shook his head, adjusting his hat so he wouldn't look like he was just staring at her. He forced the thoughts he was having about how bright her eyes were from his mind.

"Isn't Rory's birthday coming up soon?" Luke asked, his back to Lorelai.

"Yeah, the eighth," Lorelai said.

"She likes stuffed animals, right?"

"What?" Lorelai laughed.

"You know, if I got her a bear or something, would she like it?" Luke asked. "I mean, what three year old doesn't like stuffed animals?"

"I can't imagine you buying a stuffed animal," Lorelai said.

"I've bought stuffed animals before. My nephew loves penguins, I got him a penguin," Luke defended, turning back to face her. "That wasn't my point."

"Yes, she likes stuffed animals," Lorelai said. "You don't have to get her anything, though, Luke."

"'Course I do, it's her birthday," Luke said. Lorelai's eyes met his, a soft, genuine smile replacing the smug grin she got while mocking him, sending his heart into overdrive for a few seconds before the phone rang, interrupting the moment.

Luke cleared his throat, grabbing up some empty plates. He picked up the phone roughly, cradling it between his ear and his shoulder as he scraped the leftover food into the waste bins. "Luke's Diner, whatcha want?"

"Oh yes, very professional," Lorelai said. Luke waved her off.

"Luke, it's Wendy from the Inn, is Lorelai there?" the voice on the other end said shakily.

Luke handed the phone to Lorelai without another word. He busied himself with wiping the counters as she listened to Wendy.

"Oh my god," Lorelai said, her hand going to her mouth. "Is she alright?"

That got Luke's full attention. "Is who alright?" He asked, only to get waved off by Lorelai.

"Yeah, I have the van, I'll be there in thirty," Lorelai said, handing the phone back to Luke. She picked up her purse and keys shakily, tears starting to form in her eyes. "Mia fell, she's in the hospital."

"Jesus, is she alright?" Luke asked.

"She's unconscious right now, I need to go to Hartford," Lorelai was nearly out the door when she turned back, cursing under her breath. "I need to pick up Rory. I don't want her at the hospital, she'd be terrified."

"Go, I'll pick her up," Luke said without a pause. "I'll keep her here until you get back."

"Are you sure?"

"I said go, Lorelai."

* * *

Lorelai pulled into the hospital parking lot, her heart beating out of her chest. She had never liked hospitals, but she had to go in. Since she had arrived at the inn, Mia had acted as a mother to her.

Lorelai burst through the doors of the hospital, rushing to the desk. "I'm looking for Mia Bass, she fell down the stairs and was brought in on an ambulance."

"One moment, I'll find where she's at," the kindly nurse said, getting up from the desk and walking off. Lorelai nodded to no one in particular and slumped into the first chair she saw. She rested her head in her hands, trying not to worry out of her mind.

"Lorelai Victoria Gilmore," Lorelai's stomach churned as she heard an all too familiar shrill voice.

"This day just keeps getting better," Lorelai sighed. She refused to look up, hoping her mother would pass on by thinking she got the wrong girl.

"Lorelai, what are you doing here?" Her mother asked, now standing directly in front of her.

"Oh hi, Mom," Lorelai said with the most sarcastic smile she could muster. "I heard the coffee here was great, thought I'd check it out."

"That's not funny," Emily said, her hands on her hips.

"Of course it's not," Lorelai said. "I'm at a hospital, do you think I want to be here?"

"Then why are you?" Emily asked. "Is Rory hurt?"

"Rory's fine-,"

"Then where is she?" Emily demanded.

"I didn't want to bring her here," Lorelai said. "My friend picked her up from preschool."

"Why didn't you pick her up?"

"Why do you think, Ma?" Lorelai asked, gesturing around her at the waiting room. "I don't need to explain to you what I do with my daughter."

"I am still your mother, Lorelai," Emily chided.

"Yeah and?" Lorelai said. "I haven't taken a dime from you since I left and I'm eighteen. You don't get a say. What are you even doing here?"

"Your father and I had a meeting with the director of the hospital, you know we donate here." Emily answered. Her lips pressed into a thin line as she studied Lorelai. "That's what you wear in public now?"

Lorelai looked briefly at her outfit. Of course her mother would say something; Emily has forced her into pressed skirts and heels for as long as Lorelai could remember so as soon as she got control of her life, Lorelai wore the exact opposite. Today's choice was a pair of ripped up jeans, Doc Martens she had obtained at the thrift store, a Sonic Youth t shirt cut into a crop top, and a flannel several sizes too big that, if she recalled correctly, she had borrowed from Luke a few weeks ago on a particularly chilly afternoon and had never returned.

"Obviously not," Lorelai said. "Normally I've got my nipple tassels."

Emily's face drained of all colour. "Lorelai!"

"Miss?" The nurse said, poking her head back into the waiting room. "Mia Bass is awake and ready to see you."

"Thank God," Lorelai said. She nearly ran from her mother, not even saying goodbye.

* * *

Pulling up to Luke's, Lorelai felt herself finally take a breath she didn't know she had been holding since the hospital. Mia was fine despite a broken leg and a mild concussion, but Lorelai still felt a pit in her stomach. Though, she was sure it wasn't from her friend's fall, but from the encounter with Emily Gilmore. Lorelai hated how small her mother made her feel. It had been hard to raise Rory by herself, but there wasn't a day where Lorelai regretted leaving.

Lorelai stepped out from the hotel van, pressing her back against the door as she shut it for support. She looked through the window at the diner, smiling as she spotted Luke with Rory on his hip while he took orders, making her giggle every time he bounced her. Lorelai smiled in spite of the uneasy feeling she had.

"They told me I'd find you here."

"Why does this keep happening," Lorelai cursed the sky, any hint of a smile wiped from her face. "What are you doing here, Christopher?" She asked, her blood all but frozen.

Her ex boyfriend didn't look much different than he had the last time she had seen him. The only difference was she wasn't nearly as enamored with him as she had been when he was just the cute boy in her math class and not the dead beat father of her toddler.

"What are you doing here, Lorelai?" Christopher asked. "You're raising our daughter in a potting shed?"

"She's my daughter," Lorelai corrected with venom. "Aren't you supposed to be backpacking in France or something?

"I came to see Rory," Christopher said.

"Like hell," Lorelai said. "You made it very clear you didn't give a shit."

"I asked you to marry me!"

"You did not," Lorelai said. "You said 'guess we should get married now', and only because our parents made you. That's not what I wanted. And besides, after I said no, you dropped off the face of the earth, you didn't even see her again for six months."

"You broke up with me, Lorelai," Christopher said. "I gave up Princeton for you."

"That's so not what this is about," Lorelai laughed humorlessly. "What, the stress of thinking about having a kid you didn't take care of was just too much for you and you couldn't go to school? And just because we broke up, it doesn't mean you're suddenly off the hook for having to see your daughter."

"So let me see her now," Christopher said.

"Not a chance, asshole," Lorelai said. "It's way too late, you're not coming anywhere near her."

"We'll see about that," Christopher said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lorelai asked.

"Ask my lawyers."

Lorelai's heart dropped into her toes, her breathing all but stopping. "They won't let you, you're not even on the birth certificate."

"Paternity test will fix that really quick, Lorelai."

"You can't take her," Lorelai nearly yelled. She was sure everyone in the diner could hear her but she didn't really care. "You've seen her three times since she was born."

"Is there a problem?" Luke asked, stepping out of the diner. He lined himself with Lorelai, staring down Christopher as if he already knew he didn't like him. Lorelai's eyes flashed back inside, seeing Rory on the lap of a worried Babette. She was grateful Luke hadn't brought Rory outside.

"Who's this?" Christopher asked. "Your new boyfriend?"

"I'm the guy who's gonna kick your ass if you don't get the hell out here right now," Luke said, his voice calm, as if he were just taking his order. Lorelai wondered how many fights Luke had been in.

Christopher looked up at him, seeing Luke was older, larger, and probably could carry out his threat. "You're really slumming it, Lore," He said. "Expect a call."

He backed off, going back to his car on the other side of the street and taking off. As soon as he was out of sight, Lorelai nearly dropped onto the sidewalk, but Luke grabbed her, holding her to him as she started to sob. If this were any other time, Lorelai would make fun of his soft side, but instead she just cried into his chest as he patted her back.

"Who was that?" Luke asked after a moment.

"Rory's father," Lorelai said, her breath still ragged. "He wants custody."

"He can't do that, can he?"

"I'm a single mom who lives in a shed," Lorelai said. "He has money, he can do whatever he wants."


	4. Chapter 4

The weather was thankfully cooperating better than everything else in Lorelai's life. Rory's birthday was greeted by an unseasonably sunny day for autumn. Half the town came out to celebrate with her. Despite Lorelai not having much to give her, Rory had a giant table full of presents to unwrap.

Lorelai busied herself with face painting, now on her third butterfly makeover. She had a knack with the young children that their parents themselves didn't have and she suspected it had something to do with the fact that she was little more than a child herself.

She had spotted her parents' car pulling up to the park before, but she hadn't made any effort to go and greet them. As much as she didn't want to see them, they did love their granddaughter and she wasn't going to stop them from coming to her birthday party. Last year, she had been guilted into a dinner party at their home that ended horribly so she was hoping she could deter them by hosting this year's birthday party in Stars Hollow, where her parents had never bothered to visit.

Apparently her luck had shorted out after the warm day, as her mother and father approached her. "Good to see you, Lorelai," Her father greeted. Lorelai forced a smile, hugging him.

"Hiya, Dad."

"At least there's no holes in this outfit," Emily said, nodding to Lorelai's sundress and denim jacket combo.

"Hello to you too, Mother," Lorelai said.

Her mood lightened slightly when she felt small arms wrap around her legs. "He's gonna get me, Momma!" Rory said.

Lorelai looked up, seeing Luke running up towards them. He scooped Rory up, making her shriek with laughter as he threw her in the air.

"He got you!" Lorelai said, tickling her daughter's stomach, momentarily forgetting her parents' judging glance.

"Who is this?" Emily asked, lips pursed as if she had just swallowed a pound of sour candy.

Luke looked from Emily back to Lorelai and back again, eyebrow raised. "Who's asking?"

"Excuse me?" Emily asked, taken aback. Lorelai choked back a laugh.

"Luke, this is my mother, Emily, and my father, Richard Gilmore," Lorelai introduced. "Mom, Dad, this is Luke Danes, he owns the diner right over there."

"And why is Luke Danes the Diner Owner tossing my granddaughter around like a rag doll?" Emily asked.

Lorelai stiffened defensively. "Rory, why don't you ask Luke to spin you on the tire swing."

"Tire swing, Luke!" Rory yelled. Lorelai wished she could be that young and oblivious to tension.

"Happy to," Luke said, shooting Lorelai a look of sympathy. He bumped her shoulder slightly with his. "Come find me later, I wanna talk about something." Lorelai nodded absently as he walked off with Rory in his arms.

"Who is that boy?" Emily asked. "He works at a diner, what kind of profession is that?"

"He owns the diner," Lorelai corrected. "And besides, what does it matter?"

"What does it matter?" Emily scoffed. "He can't provide for you. Christopher has a very promising career at-,"

"Speaking of Christopher," Lorelai interrupted, ignoring her mother's implication of Luke. "Want to explain how he knew where I was?"

Emily held herself up, her typical "I did the right thing" stance. "He deserves to know where his child is."

"He doesn't give a damn where his child is, Mother, otherwise he would've seen her," Lorelai said, keeping her voice low as to not draw attention but harsh enough to sting as if she had yelled. "And now, he's going to sue for custody. I got a call from his lawyer yesterday."

"That can be easily fixed, Lorelai," Richard said.

"How?" Lorelai asked.

"Christopher is more than willing to work things out with you," Emily said. "Despite you being difficult. And you three could move into the guest house."

"That's not solving-," Lorelai groaned, ready to tear her hair out. "Leave. Just… Leave."

Emily pulled back as if she had been slapped. "I will not. I've barely seen Rory."

"And you won't ever again if you keep pulling this shit," Lorelai said. "I am tired of you acting like me not getting married at sixteen was the stupidest thing I've ever done. I'm supporting myself and I don't need you here judging me."

"Lorelai-," her father began.

"Go," Lorelai said, turning her back and walking towards the party once again. She didn't look back to see if they had heeded her warning.

* * *

After a day of running around and opening presents, Rory was dead tired. She fell asleep on the park bench with her new teddy bear in her arms as Lorelai cleaned up the remnants of the party. She was ready to go back to the Inn and crash herself, but she caught the sign of Luke's from the corner of her eye and suddenly craved a cup of coffee and a dose of annoying the owner.

She picked up Rory and crossed the quiet street. It was only six in the evening but Stars Hollow was basically a ghost town. The diner was empty save for a few customers eating pie.

Lorelai took her usually seat at the counter, Rory still asleep in her arms. "You know what I'm here for, big guy," Lorelai said in a hushed tone with a smile. Luke rolled his eyes but got her a mug anyways.

"Looks like she had fun," Luke said, pouring her coffee.

"She likes the bear," Lorelai said. "She named him Burt."

"Solid name," Luke laughed, wiping down the counter.

"What did you want to talk about?" Lorelai asked as she took a sip of her coffee. It was perfect as always but she suspected it might have been decaf.

"Oh yeah, uh," Luke said, adjusting his baseball cap. "I wanted to ask you something."

"What's up?"

"So the whole thing with Rory's father and stuff," Luke said. "What's going to happen?"

Lorelai took a deep breath. It had been weighing on her since Christopher had told her and the call from his lawyer didn't help. She thought he would drop it, but it sounded like he was going to go through with it and drag both her and Rory to court.

"I don't know, honestly," Lorelai said. "They're going to see that I don't have a house and he does, and that I don't have money and he does, and that he has a better job."

"He's barely seen Rory," Luke said. Lorelai could see his jaw tighten in anger.

"It won't matter. He could argue that I was keeping her from him. I'm sure my parents will attest to that."

"They won't help you?" Luke asked.

"Their idea of helping is planning for me and Christopher's wedding," Lorelai said. "I have no money for a lawyer, they're going to take her away." Lorelai hated crying in public but she felt a few tears slip past.

Luke sighed, rubbing his hand over his scruff. "I had an idea."

"I'll alert the media," Lorelai joked, wiping a tear from her cheek.

"Funny," Luke said sarcastically. "After that putz showed up, I called a buddy of mine from high school. He's a lawyer in New York now."

"I told you, I can't afford a lawyer," Lorelai said.

"Will you can it for a second? That's not what my idea was," Luke said. "He said you're much more likely to win if you aren't a single parent."

"I'm not marrying Christopher, he's a jack ass," Lorelai said. "Jesus, did you talk to my parents too?"

"Christ," Luke said, taking his hat off to run his hand through his hair. "Not Christopher, me."

Lorelai looked at him, her face confused as if he had suddenly switched the conversation to Klingon. "Me what?"

"If you marry me, Lorelai," Luke said, his voice low so no one else would hear. "If you married me, you wouldn't be a single parent."

"Luke, you can't be serious. That's crazy."

"You said it yourself, they wouldn't look at if you're a good mother," Luke said. "They'd just see you as a single teenager with no money."

"Yeah but-,"

"I'm a business owner, I got good credit, my own place, no felonies or anything. I know someone who could get you a house to rent for cheap."

"Luke, I can't ask you to marry me," Lorelai said.

"Technically I'm asking," Luke said. "You're annoying as all hell, but you're a good mom and I don't want to see you get Rory taken away."

"You're only twenty one," Lorelai said. "How many women do you think you're gonna pick up when you have a wife and a kid?"

Luke shrugged, "I don't pick up women anyways."

"I can't believe you're suggesting this," Lorelai said, shaking her head. "This is insane. You're insane."

"Probably."

"You've thought about this?" Lorelai said. "Like really thought about this?"

"We can get a license and go to the courthouse in less than a week," Luke said.

"You are the last person I would think would propose to me," Lorelai said, her hand on her forehead. She looked at Rory, still asleep in her arms but holding firmly to Burt the Bear.

"You can think about it," Luke said. Lorelai shook her head.

"I really can't," she said. "Shit. Why not? Let's get married."


	5. Chapter 5

She had just been planning on wearing one of her clean sundresses to the courthouse, but as soon as she asked Mia to be one of their witnesses, the older woman insisted on getting Lorelai a white one. She made a joke that no one would believe she's a virgin if her kid is coming to the wedding with her. Lorelai examined herself in the mirror of the Inn. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she actually liked the dress Mia found at a thrift store in Hartford; simple white with lace on top that stopped mid thigh. Of course, Lorelai stuck to her guns about her shoes and still wore her regular Doc Martens. They clashed with her dress and her delicately curled hair, but Lorelai argued that she had to have something old.

"You're pretty, Momma," Rory said, clutching Burt to her chest on the bed. Mia had even convinced Rory into a frilly red dress that Lorelai was annoyed that she was cute in.

"Thanks, kid. You look pretty sharp yourself," Lorelai said with a slight smirk. "Now, you know what's happening today, right? Momma's getting married."

"Momma's getting married," Rory parroted back.

"Do you know what that means?" Lorelai asked. Rory shook her head, making Lorelai laugh. "That means we're going to spend more time with Luke," She explained. "Is that okay?"

"Yes!" Rory said. "Luke is fun."

"Oh, sweetie, you are the first person to think that," Lorelai joked. "It also means we're going to move out of the shed and we're going to live in town, closer to your school."

"Okay," Rory nodded thoughtfully.

"Are you ready to go?" Lorelai asked. Rory nodded. "Okay, and how about Burt?"

"Him too," Rory said.

Lorelai held out her hand and Rory crawled off the bed, grabbing it and walking with her out the door, where they collided with someone outside of it. The woman fell to the floor, laughing a bit. She was a short woman with pigtails. She didn't seem bothered at all by the fall, her smile never leaving her friendly, round face.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry," she said, hoisting herself up and grabbing the basket she dropped. "Are you Lorelai?"

"I am," Lorelai said. The woman stuck out her free hand for Lorelai to shake.

"Sookie," She said. "I'm the new sous chef. Mia wanted me to bring you something special for today, she left early to the courthouse. I hear congratulations are in order."

Lorelai rolled her eyes but thanked the sous chef. "It's not too big of a deal, really."

"Not a big deal!" Sookie said. "It's your wedding day. How long have you been together?"

"We haven't," Lorelai said, putting a confused look on Sookie's face. "It's a long story."

"Alrighty then," Sookie said. "Dinner's going to be here at six."

"It is?" Lorelai asked.

"Shoot, I wasn't supposed to tell you that," Sookie said. "Sorry, forget I said anything."

"Don't worry about it," Lorelai laughed.

"I'm such an airhead sometimes," Sookie said. She opened the basket, producing a delicately frosted cupcake. "I heard these were someone's favourites." She bent down, handing it over to Rory.

"Thank you!" Rory said, immediately staining her previously clean face with chocolate. Lorelai took the basket from Sookie and thanked her again.

The Gilmore girls walked down the stairs, to the entrance of the inn. Lorelai has never thought much about marriage. She was never one of those girls who planned their wedding from the day she was born, but since she started working at the inn, she liked the idea of getting married in the garden.

Lorelai heard the rumble of Luke's truck as he pulled up outside. As always, he was right on time. The girls walked outside into the brisk autumn air. Luke hopped out of his truck, looking up the steps at Lorelai, his eyes wide.

She had never seen Luke in anything but jeans and a flannel, but it looked like Mia had gotten to him as well. He left the baseball cap at home and wore black slacks and a nice button up, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

"You look really...," Luke started, his voice catching a little as he stared at her. "Pretty."

Lorelai blushed slightly as she walked down the steps. "You do too."

"Not as pretty as Rory, though," Luke said, turning his attention to the little girl, who giggled and held tighter to her bear.

Luke opened the passenger door for Lorelai to slide in before he got around to his side. The pulled out of the driveway, and onto the road with only the sound of the radio between them as they drove through Stars Hollow.

"This is awkward, isn't it?" Lorelai asked finally. Luke laughed.

"Yeah, a bit," He said.

"I really can't thank you enough for doing this," Lorelai said. "It's such a weird favor."

"Don't worry about it," Luke said. "Honestly, it's just a piece of paper and it'll help you out a lot. I don't mind."

"You don't plan on getting married for real then?" Lorelai asked. She realized what she said and blushed brighter. "Not to me, obviously, just like in general."

Luke smiled at her awkwardness. "Not really, never thought about it."

They pulled up to the courthouse and Lorelai was only sort of surprised to see nearly everyone in town packed inside. "I'm going to kill Mia. She knows this is just an on paper thing."

Luke rubbed his neck uncomfortably with a laugh. "Yeah, but I've lived in this town my whole life. I think they're all just surprised I'm getting married. Real or not."

"This is going to be fun," Lorelai said sarcastically. She helped Rory out of the truck, taking her little hand in hers as they ascended the steps with Luke. "At least we get cake after."

"Just smile and pretend like you like me," Luke said. Lorelai felt the corners of her mouth turn up.

"There's no need to pretend," Lorelai said. "I can mostly stand you."

Luke returned her grin. "I can mostly stand you, too."

They walked into the courthouse, met with a roar of applause. Lorelai handed Rory off to Mia, giving her boss a stern look that Mia ignored completely. The ceremony took less than five minutes, as they did the traditional vows and had their very chaste first kiss as husband and wife. Lorelai was surprised to find his lips soft, different than his overworked hands would have suggested. Once they signed the papers confirming that she was now Mrs. Danes and they left the courthouse from a tunnel of cheering townspeople.

"I'll take Rory back to the inn," Mia said, coming up to them at the truck.

"Any reason I can't just take her?" Lorelai asked, eyebrow raised.

"No reason at all," Mia said with a smirk. "But be back by six, alright? I know it's your wedding day but you can save the hanky panky for later."

Luke turned red instantly, reaching up as if he wanted to fidget with his hat that wasn't there. "Mia, you know this is just-,"

"I know what I know," Mia said. "Now I've got to go wrangle Rory out of Miss Patty's arms before that woman casts her in the next lead role."

Lorelai shook her head as she watched Mia walk back into the crowd. "Guess we have an hour to kill," she said to Luke. "Now I have a husband that can buy me booze, you want to get drunk enough to deal with a reception?"

Luke laughed, rubbing his hand over his scruff. "That sounds like a plan," he said. "But I actually have something to show you first."

"Luke, you know that's not our arrangement," Lorelai joked.

Luke rolled his eyes, opening her door for her. "Funny. Now, get in."

Lorelai complied, hopping into the cab. She felt a strange warmth in her chest, being alone with Luke. She had been alone with him plenty before, she didn't know why now was different. And even though it was only brief and very public, her mind wandered back to the kiss. She looked over at Luke, driving with one hand on the wheel and the other draped lazily across the back of her seat, the feeling spreading to her stomach as well. She shook her head of the thought. She told herself that it was just because she felt grateful for what Luke had done, nothing else. She had known him for almost a year now. He cared about Rory almost as much as she did, enough to marry her just so she would have a fighting chance of keeping her. Despite their bickering, he was her best friend.

"We're here," Luke said, putting the truck in park. He got out, leaning against the side of the truck. Lorelai hadn't even noticed where they had been going, her attention focused on Luke.

"We are?" Lorelai asked, getting out and standing next to him. "You wanted to show me Babette's house?" Luke reached out, turning her from Babette's barn like home to the house next door. It was slightly run down, the paint chipped, a few shingles missing, and the lawn overgrown with weeds, but it had potential. She noticed a For Sale sign in the yard and laughed. "Yeah, okay, I can't afford to buy a house. I thought you said you knew place to rent for cheap?"

"All those places are either shitholes or the landlords are creeps, I'm not letting you and Rory live there," Luke said.

"Shitholes are the only thing I can afford," Lorelai said.

"I know," Luke said. He stepped into the yard, yanking the sign out of the grass and tossing it into the bed of the truck.

Lorelai stared at him open mouthed for a long moment before regaining her composure. "No way, no way," she said. "I'm not letting you buy me a house, Luke. You've already done too much."

"My dad left me some money when he passed away," Luke said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Flipping houses is a good investment. You can live here why I fix it up, it'll show the court you got a good place to live for Rory. I'll sell it when you can afford a place on your own."

"Luke-,"

"I'm not taking no for an answer, Lorelai," Luke said. "Which is why I already bought it."

"You did wh-? I can't-," Lorelai sputtered out, putting a smirk on Luke's face. "I'm paying you rent, at least," Lorelai said firmly. Luke shrugged. "I don't take handouts."

"It's not a hand out," Luke said. "I'm your husband, remember? It's kind of my job."

"Don't you start on that."


End file.
